Credit Cards are being used more than ever for both online and offline purchases. It is convenient- there’s no two ways about it. However, many times there arise certain situations where an error is made while paying through a card.  Sometimes we assume that once we pay with the card, the payment is done, and nothing further can be done about it.  

You would be glad to know that there are ways to get refunds on your credit card, provided you follow the rules, regulations, and the timeline for initiating the refunds.  

Let us proceed by learning about circumstances where you can claim a refund:

  • Duplicate Charges (Card swiped twice for a transaction) 

  • Fraudulent transactions 

  • Cancellation of a product/service ordered online within the stipulated time 

  • Refund promised but not acted upon. 

How do you proceed after noticing an error with your credit card? 

Duplicate charges on your card 

In an ideal scenario, the refund to your card account should be automatically done within the time period mentioned by the issuing bank, but not all transactions are similar.  Some transactions will need to be reported for them to get acted upon. In case of duplicate charges or double swiping on your card, you should approach your bank which can check if the amount has been debited twice. If yes, they can approach the merchant to get it right. 

Fraudulent transactions 

Fraudulent transactions are those transactions where a transaction has been done at some other place while the card was in your possession. This is generally a case of card skimming, theft of the crucial details of your card like PIN/CVV, etc. In these cases, it is good to inform the bank as soon as you get to know about the transaction. You do have a time period of 3 days to inform the bank, after which the liability of the bank decreases. If the fraudulent transaction has been due to the bank's mistake like the involvement of an employee or comprised systems, then the customer will get the refund. Even if it due to customer's negligence, RBI notification says that the per transaction liability of the customer will be limited to the transaction value or an amount set by the central bank, whichever is lower.  
 

Refund due to the cancellation of a product/service ordered online. 

This might be the most common case off-late considering the number of online shopping transactions happening in a day. The seller allows for a cancellation of the product or service within a certain timeline.  You should know the estimated timeline for a refund in these cases. Also, at times, the refund may be in the form of cash that can be used only on the seller's platform. When it is a case of the refund into the credit card account that it is paid from, the expected timeframe is 7-14 days.  

In these cases, once the merchant makes a refund into your account, they issue an ARN (Acquirer Reference Number).  If the refund is not reflected within 7-14 days, you can approach your bank with the required details. They should be able to help you. 

Charge Back option on Credit Cards 

When it comes to unsatisfactory purchases made on credit cards, you can exercise an option called as Charge Back on Credit Cards. This option needs to be exercised within a period of 180 days from the date of transaction on credit card with all the relevant proof. In case of a chargeback, your credit card issuing company will withdraw funds from the merchant and hold it under your account pending investigation. The merchant will also be given a fair chance to represent their case.  If the investigation finds that the customer was right, then he gets a refund into his account.  

Chargeback option can be exercised even for options where the refund was promised but subsequently is not credited to your account.